Mortal Sins
by ChibiJaime
Summary: The final thoughts of the Shichinin-tai... warning, this may be a spoiler for most American viewers. R&R is much appreciated and encouraged!


{/Author's Note: If you haven't seen from 102 on in the anime, or from volume 24 up in the manga, you probably shouldn't be reading this. This isn't a huge spoiler, but it's a spoiler enough, and if you don't want a cool storyline ruined for you... ah... well... it's best to just move along. Shoo shoo. Nothing to see here.  
  
For those of you who know what the heck is going on, I'll move right along. This is basically the thoughts of four of the Shichinin-tai (this is excluding Kyoukotsu, Mukotsu, and Ginkotsu because I don't feel there's enough there about them to do this) as each one is beheaded after the many Daimyou that had banded together finally subdued them. Angst, male/male relationship innuendos, and other such oddball things run amok here. So please... if you either a) want to be spoiled a little or b) know what this is all about, read on!/}  
  
~=~Mortal Sins~=~  
  
"The big one is dead already. An arrow somehow pierced his forehead. Between the eyes."  
  
Outwardly, Bankotsu flinched for the first time in almost five years. Just a boy of twelve... had that really been the last time? Four men many times his small size held him pinned to the ground. Seventeen now. Five years. He couldn't die this soon. The cold earth smeared onto his face, and he could hear the others struggling. Dead. Kyoukotsu was already dead.  
  
How had it come to this? He heard the clanging of metal, some off noises and protests. His deep blue eyes lifted. More men than held down even he were forcing Ginkotsu to his knees. Renkotsu's struggle nearby became louder, and he heard a sturdy crack as one of the soldiers of the many Daimyou assembled struck the taller man. Like that would be enough to knock the senses out of Renkotsu... it did, however, subdue him.  
  
The song of a blade as it whipped through the air stung Bankotsu's ears as strongly as if it had been he under the first falling sword. The sickening sound of metal through flesh, the dull thud of a head as it connected with the ground, metallic clanging as the rest of Ginkotsu's body fell... his stomach heaved. He wanted to vomit. Not from fear. Not from illness or disgust. It was from hatred... the sheer hatred for these men was fueling him. The awful taste in his mouth burned, and he could nearly feel bile rising in his throat.  
  
Mukotsu was the next. It took far less men, and far less time, and there was hardly a moment for a second glance before the poison-user was dead as well.  
  
A cry of anger split the silence of death as Bankotsu heard someone else being wrenched from the ground. He knew that voice... all too well. He struggled violently, just to look up, just to see, to hope he wasn't right.  
  
And there he was... three men had hold of Jakotsu, forcing him foreward, with almost as much struggle as the much larger Ginkotsu had given. His eyes met with Bankotsu's for a moment, and Bankotsu squirmed and kicked with all his might. "Jakotsu!"  
  
*****  
  
/We tried.../ Jakotsu kicked and screamed and fought and pulled... anything that could buy him just a second longer. /We tried... for Bankotsu no oo-aniki... we tried... so hard.../ He almost hissed as one random soldier grabbed him by the hair, trying to force him to move foreward towards the rather large figure holding the sword, still dripping with Mukotsu's blood. He fought against that, legs much stronger than they had expected from his thin frame. /Bankotsu.../ His gaze shot back, and he locked eyes in that instant with the young commander.  
  
"Jakotsu!"  
  
/I'm so sorry, Bankotsu.../  
  
He was jarred out of his thoughts by the crack of a hand across his face. "Keep moving! We want to get this over with... your leader can't save you. Our victory is assured!"  
  
He felt a shove against his lower back, and then two of the three men holding him shoved him to the ground. One of them snickered. "How can a man who dresses like a woman think he's so strong...?"  
  
Jakotsu's eyes narrowed and a rush of adrenaline shot through him. He moved to attack the other man, but found himself tackled before he could even finish the thought. /Bankotsu no oo-aniki... you... I never did get to tell you.../ He cringed as he was forced to his knees, arms jerked back, a foot to his back to lean him foreward. /...how much.../ The sword was raised. /...I cared about you./  
  
And he thought no more.  
  
*****  
  
Suikotsu stared from where he stood, held by at least five men... it had taken that many just to hold him... he had no idea how many had worked to get his claws. Kyoukotsu, Ginkotsu, Mukotsu, and Jakotsu... they were all dead now. Beheaded. Three Shichinin-tai remained. He, Renkotsu, and Bankotsu. They would behead Bankotsu last, of course... forcing the boy to watch his comrades - his men - fall, one by one, before his eyes.  
  
A shove against his back... and something snapped. His hair fell into his face, the markings he wore seeming to disappear in an instant. The crazed shine to his eyes was totally gone. "Wh--...what's going on...?!"  
  
The soldiers stopped as they led Suikotsu towards the executioner, just long enough to stare at him, noticing the sudden change in his demeanor, and the total lack of struggle. "...What's wrong with you, Shichinin-tai? Finally realize that there's no use fighting?"  
  
"Shi...Shichinin-tai...?" Realization dawned on the young man's face. The young doctor. What had been the ruthless killer had been replaced... abandoned by his fiercer self for the timid young healer. His mouth moved without words as his eyes skimmed the bloodied battlefield, a feeling of panic striking deeper than a knife. "No! No, I'm not one of them!"  
  
One of the soldiers laughed, shoving Suikotsu foreward again. "Like hell you aren't, boy! On your knees!"  
  
Suikotsu did not resist, but his expression did not change. Why was he here? How had he gotten here? Beside him were three headless bodies... and another much larger body with an arrow embedded in the forehead. Who were these people?!  
  
He closed his eyes tightly, hoping that the men around him would realize his innocence. Would realize he had done nothing... that these men were nothing to him. That moment never came, and he felt but a brief sting as his life was too ended at the sudden swipe of a sword.  
  
*****  
  
/This shouldn't be happening.../ Renkotsu did not struggle as he was forced to his feet. Anger burned in his narrowed eyes. He didn't turn to look at Bankotsu, although he could feel the boy's eyes on him. /That boy... that BOY! If I had been in charge, we would not be here! We would all be alive!/  
  
For a moment, he struggled, although he knew it was pointless by now. Only two Shichinin-tai remained, and at this point, neither he nor Bankotsu were in any state to hold off the surrounding Daimyou. /Why didn't I take over earlier...? We would all be alive... even that presumptuous little brat. We would still be fighting, winning, LIVING!/ He snarled, shoved to his knees roughly, letting his head drop foreward. There was no use fighting it. /He is at fault... he is to blame... it is all.../ He heard the sword begin to fall. /...because of HIM--.../  
  
*****  
  
The soldiers holding Bankotsu so roughly were shocked to discover the boy was limp when they lifted him. His feet did not support his weight, and his young form was lax.  
  
One of them gave him a shake. He still did not move.  
  
/I hate them.../  
  
"Oi! Brat! Are you paying any attention?!"  
  
/I... hate... them.../  
  
The split second of hesitation on the part of the soldiers was all Bankotsu needed. One fist flew up, nailing one of the men holding him directly beneath the chin, flooring him without a need for a second hit. Another he kicked, and once his other assailants were dealt with, he made a break for the forest. /I have to get out of here! I have to live! Kyoukotsu, Ginkotsu, Mukotsu... Suikotsu, Renkotsu... ...Jakotsu... I have to survive to avenge you all!/  
  
A choked cry escaped his throat as he felt a sharp tug at the back of his head, feet jerked out from beneath him as the man who held his braid pulled fiercely upon it. His hands flew back, clawing at his assailant's arm, but this was not someone who would be easily stopped. Laughing, the man spun to one side, sending Bankotsu's boyish form sailing into a nearby tree. He swore he felt his back snap.  
  
Pain spun through his head and his back as he was dragged by his long braid through the underbrush, still kicking and trying to get away. He couldn't let these men beat him. He was the leader of the Shichinin-tai. He had survived five years fighting things a man his age would have paled in the face of. He twisted, kicking the man's hand, but the soldier would not release his grip. He simply flung the boy to the feet of the executioner. One hand grabbed Bankotsu's chin, lifting the boy to his knees, staring into the defiant face. And he started to laugh. "Look at this, men... Bankotsu... the 'great' leader of the Shichinin-tai. The little brat is crying."  
  
The laughing of the men around him made Bankotsu choke on rising bile again, his head dropping foreward as his arms were jerked out to his sides, a foot pressing mercilessly to the throbbing pain of his back. He spoke, but his words were soft... a promise to himself. Their laughing drowned him out. They did not hear him. "These tears are not of fear... nor pain... they are of the hatred I feel. I hate you... I hate all of you... sorry bastards... I hate you all... from the deepest, darkest, center of my being, I hate you..."  
  
One of the men drew his long braid to the side, snickering in a way that made Bankotsu want to rip his lungs out. "Pretty hair for a boy. Best not let it get cut!"  
  
He moved in front of Bankotsu and jerked foreward on the plaited raven mass, resulting in not a single sound but the further bowed head of the broken leader. Bankotsu hissed, but continued speaking. "Mark me... I will come back... my hand will reach beyond the grave, and I will see all of you killed... my one-thousandth kill... will be your lord. DEATH WILL NOT DEFEAT BANKOTSU! THE SHICHININ-TAI WILL RISE AGAIN!"  
  
And the sword fell.  
  
~=~End~=~ 


End file.
